Save your family and guests from the horrors of the gastrointestinal disorder by thoroughly cooking your whole chicken. Only one thanks to knowing that pathogens that cause gastrointestinal disorder are killed exists: employing a thermometer to check the meat. How to Check the Temperature of a Whole Chicken general.
The color of the flesh, long wont to determine if the chicken cooked through, doesn’t guarantee that the chicken does not pose a danger to those that eat it.
Throw out the old wives’ tales and pull out your thermometer to be safe from foodborne illness.
Prepare ONE
Test the meat at the time your recipe dictates.
Prepare TWO
Insert the probe of the thermometer into the thickest portion of the thigh of the chicken without touching the bone. Look for a temperature of a minimum of 165 degrees F within the thigh meat.
Prepare THREE
Stick the tip of the thermometer into the inner portion of the wing, without touching the bone, trying to find a reading of 165 degrees F.
Prepare FOUR
Check the pigeon breast for an indoor temperature of 165 degrees F by putting the top of the thermometer into the thickest a part of the breast, without coming into contact with the bone.
Prepare FIVE
Push the thermometer into the center of the stuffing, if cooking a stuffed chicken. Look for a minimum of 165 degrees F for the temperature of the stuffing.
Warning
Never eat an undercooked chicken or stuffing, as gastrointestinal disorder could result.
Discard any leftovers after they sit for quite two hours at temperature. Avoid waste by immediately freezing or refrigerating excess chicken.
Always reheat all leftovers to 165 degrees F to take care of food safety.
When roasting an entire chicken, it’s best to use an indoor thermometer, like an iGrill® to make sure that your roast is perfectly cooked.
For the best results, it is important that your probe placement is accurate.
The best place to insert a probe into a whole chicken is deep into the breast. Using the length of the probe, measure three quarters along with the breast, marking on the probe with your fingers.
Keeping your fingers marked on the probe, insert the probe through the front of the breast. Avoid touching any bones.
If the probe is touching any bones or if it has gone through to the cavity the temperature will read incorrectly.
Kitchen Fact: The safe internal temperature for cooked chicken is 165° Fahrenheit (75° Celsius).
A slice of meat or instant-read thermometer is your best bet for determining the temperature of your chicken, and if you’re cooking an entire bird.
It should be inserted into the thickest part of the thigh but not touching the bone. 165 degrees Fahrenheit is the safe internal temperature for both red meat and meat.
If you don’t have a thermometer, a simple visual clue is that each one the juices that come from the chicken should run clear and not be pink.
Are You Cooking Meat Safely?
Meat and poultry are cooked and juicy at certain temperatures but become dry and hard if cooked for much longer.
Traditionally, judging when a bird is done roasting has meant visually checking the interior color of the meat while it is cooking—the redder the color, the rarer the meat.
But this involves guesswork, which is neither accurate nor safe!
Instead, it’s recommended that you simply use a thermometer to gauge when your roast pork, pigeon breast, or another cut of meat is actually able to be served.
According to the USDA, different meats must reach different temperatures to be considered safe. (Consult the chart below for minimum internal temperatures.)
A slice of meat or instant-read thermometer is your best bet for determining the temperature of your chicken, and if you’re cooking an entire bird.
It should be inserted into the thickest part of the thigh but not touching the bone. 165 degrees Fahrenheit is the safe internal temperature for both red meat and meat.
Thinking of the Advanced Thermal: Carryover Cooking in Chicken
If you’re concerned about holding it at 157°F (69.4°C) for 31 seconds, you certainly needn’t be: carryover cooking will make sure your meat is safe!
Most people don’t realize that when you take a chicken breast off of the heat, the residual heat in the outermost layers of the chicken will cause the internal temperature to keep rising.
Creating a temperature equilibrium in the whole piece. How to check the temperature of a whole chicken general.
This is advanced thermal thinking because it requires more judgment—it entails a dynamic target with two variables: the temperature of the cooking environment and the mass of the meat being cooked.
Meat cooked in a hotter environment will have more carryover because there will be more thermal energy in the outer layers that will be pumped into the center.
How to Check the Temperature of a Whole Chicken for You
Hotter cooking means more carryover cooking: chicken cooked in a smoker at 250°F (121°C) will have much less carryover than a spatchcocked chicken roasted at 425°F (218°C).
A large piece of chicken, say a whole bird, will have a lot more thermal mass that can move heat into the center, meaning the internal temperature will rise more than on a small piece of chicken.
A breast experiences less carryover than a whole bird does, and a wing even less.
What that means for you is that you might set an even lower doneness temperature on your ChefAlarm when you roast a whole chicken than you would if you were just baking some breasts.
As you get used to monitoring temperatures, you will gain a sense of how carryover works in various situations and be able to set your alarms better to get exactly the results you want.
How to check the temperature of a whole chicken in general.
Dark Meat Chicken Temps: 175°F (79.4°C)
Everything we’ve discussed up to this point is focused on cooking chicken breasts. Dark meat may be a whole other kettle of fish.
While meat does get to be cooked to a secure temperature, it must actually be cooked to a better temperature to be enjoyable.
Dark meat has much more connective tissue in it, and that tissue needs to be broken down to make it tender. If you don’t like meat due to its gummy, rubbery texture, then you aren’t cooking your meat hot enough!
For the connective tissues to break down, dark meat must be cooked to at least 170°F (76.7°C), but it is even better if cooked to 175°F (79.4°C).
Reap: Temp Your Chicken! How to Check the Temperature of a Whole Chicken
Most people overcook chicken because they use physical artifacts to cook it, rather than actually measuring its temperature.
The only way to know how well your chicken is cooked is to use a thermometer, preferably one that is fast (so you know what’s happening now) and accurate (so you know you’re not being lied to by your thermometer).
Though the USDA names 165°F (74°C) as the doneness temperature for chicken, cooking it to a lower temperature and holding it at that temperature for an appropriate time will result in juicier, tastier chicken.
Add to ensure safety when cooking to those lower temperatures, track your chicken’s carryover cooking.
We also have a detailed review on Best Wireless Meat Thermometer in case if you want to check that out! And other articles.
